


It's the Wonder of Us (I sing of tonight)

by Tea_For_One_Please



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Healthy Relationships, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, One Shot, Post-Canon, Theater Kids, we stan healthy communication in this house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22936963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: “Carlos, come on,” Seb says, a breathy chuckle escaping him as Carlos pulls away for air. “People will notice we’re gone.”“No, they won’t,” Carlos murmurs, pressing his lips against Seb’s again. “Five more minutes.” Seb tries to pull away again, still laughing.“The choreographer and the pianist?” he says, pushing a wisp of hair off Carlos’ face fondly. “Yeah, I think they will.”
Relationships: Seb Matthew-Smith/Carlos Rodriguez
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73





	It's the Wonder of Us (I sing of tonight)

“Carlos, come on,” Seb says, a breathy chuckle escaping him as Carlos pulls away for air. “People will notice we’re gone.”

“No, they won’t,” Carlos murmurs, pressing his lips against Seb’s again. “Five more minutes.” Seb tries to pull away again, still laughing.

“The choreographer and the pianist?” he says, pushing a wisp of hair off Carlos’ face fondly. “Yeah, I think they will.”

“What if I don’t care?” Carlos says nonchalantly.

“ _I_ care,” Seb says, but he looks at the defiant sparkle in Carlos’ eyes and shrugs. “Eh, I guess we can get away with five more minutes.” He seizes Carlos by the front of his jacket and pulls him into another kiss.

It’s the first moment they’ve had alone all day, and since they didn’t get to see each other all weekend, and Seb was out sick on Friday, this is their first contact in nearly four days. Carlos remarked earlier that he’s been having withdrawal symptoms, and Seb can sort of see his point. They’re three months into their relationship at this point, although they’re not sure exactly when it officially started. Seb claims that it was homecoming, but Carlos half-jokingly remarks that they had so little time together at the dance that it doesn’t really count, and that opening night of _High School Musical_ was the first time things got serious. Seb doesn’t much care either way, although he’s left wondering when they’ll celebrate their anniversary. Even with that concern in mind, he likes the warm feeling he gets from the idea of reaching the one-year mark with Carlos. Pushing the worries from his mind, he brings his mind back into the present, closing his eyes as Carlos leans in to kiss him again.

Because that’s the thing about Carlos: he’s sweet, and gentle, and caring, but he’s intense, and exciting, and a little bit addictive. Even nearly three months on, Seb can’t resist the fierceness of Carlos’ love – the glint in his dark eyes which seems to whisper, _go on, kiss me. I dare you._ It gives Seb a little shiver when he sees that look on his face.

It’s nearly always a little bit like that. They don’t go in for the sickening public displays of affection other couples do ( _here’s looking at you, Nini and Ricky_ , Seb often thinks), but only because they’re sort of nervous. They hold hands in hallways, and that’s about as brave as they get at school. They’re a little more affectionate in rehearsals, where they know everyone is cool and accepting of them, but although East High is generally quite progressive, there are always outliers, and they’d prefer to fly under the radar. They never told anyone about the senior boy who spat at them when they left the homecoming dance holding hands.

Now, though, they’re in a convenient nook, set into the wall between the bomb shelter where they rehearse and the boys’ bathrooms. It’s secluded, and goes largely unnoticed by passers-by, a fact of which they’re taking full advantage. Seb finds that these negative thoughts are shaken from his mind as he feels Carlos’ hands slip under his shirt and rest comfortably on his waist. He pushes him back against the wall, kissing first his jaw, then a sensitive spot just below his left ear, then his neck. Seb feels himself melting under his touch, swallowing a lump in his throat as Carlos’ hands slide an inch or two north. He gives an involuntary shiver, and curses his body’s reflexes as Carlos pulls away, looking worriedly at him.

“Sorry, was that not okay?”

“That was…” Seb’s voice is high-pitched and embarrassingly breathy; he clears his throat and tries again. “That was – that was good. Your hands are just cold.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Carlos says, his face breaking out into a relieved grin.

“It’s all good,” Seb smiles, kissing him tenderly on the lips once more. “We should probably go back in, though.”

Carlos reluctantly concedes, and they go back in together, surprised – and in no small part relieved – to find that the rehearsal hasn’t restarted yet. Nini and Ashlyn are messing around at the piano; Gina and Big Red are constructing some kind of tap routine, whilst EJ and Ricky, ever a health hazard, seem to be ‘playing chicken’ with a rotary fan which has lost its protective cover.

“Caswell, Bowen,” Carlos calls loudly. Ricky, EJ and Ashlyn all jump; the latter glances over and looks relieved to find that Carlos isn’t talking to her. “If either of you loses a finger I will use it as a prop.” They have the grace to look abashed, and Carlos addresses the room. “Has anyone seen Miss Jenn?”

“She went to the staff lounge,” Nini says, bobbing up from behind the piano.

“Yeah, a half-hour ago,” Kourtney interjects.

“She’s probably getting to know Mr Mazzara a little better,” EJ says, elbowing Ricky and grinning.

“Thank you, EJ,” Carlos sighs, raising his eyes to the heavens.

“Speaking of which, where have you been for the last fifteen minutes?” Ricky adds.

“Let’s keep going.” Carlos’ tone turns suddenly brisk, and the smirk shared between the cast does not escape Seb’s notice. He feels himself blushing, and walks quickly over to the piano, hastily shooing Nini and Ashlyn away. “Okay, I need Belle, the young prince, and the furniture. Seb, can you sing and play?” Seb eyes his boyfriend dubiously as Kourtney, Ashlyn, Nini and Gina, along with a few other people Seb doesn’t know so well, troop into the performance space.

“Sure, if you tell me which song we’re doing.”

“ _Days in the Sun_ ,” Carlos says, like it’s obvious. “Why else would I need the young prince?”

“Alright,” Seb says, raising his hands in surrender. “Excuse me for not knowing the entire script.” Carlos shoots him an irritated look before turning his attention back to the onstage cast.

Seb scowls and opens his score book, flicking through the pages to the right song. He knows rehearsals stress Carlos out, especially when Miss Jenn isn’t around, but Seb can’t help but feel that he gets the brunt of it sometimes. He vaguely considers going on strike and making a fuss; _no_ , he thinks, _that’s petty, and will only piss him off more_. It is tempting, though. Catching Nini’s eye, he mimes strangling, and she gives him a sympathetic look.

He rolls his eyes and tries to forget about it, as he starts to play the four bars of introduction, nodding at Joseph, the young prince, to start singing. He’s a frankly tiny freshman boy that Miss Jenn found and practically forced to audition. His voice hasn’t yet broken ( _the poor bastard_ , Seb thinks), and he’s a little wobbly, but he’s pretty good. Seb is so distracted by the awful prospect of Joseph’s voice breaking before opening night that he almost misses his own cue, and hastily starts singing Lumière’s part.

Perhaps he stumbles slightly because Claire, the girl playing Plumette, gives him a funny look when she joins in. He grimaces an apology before turning his attention back to his music as Ashlyn starts singing. When Kourtney starts singing Belle’s solo, he has to slightly simplify what he’s playing, to accommodate the tricky chord sequence, but otherwise the song goes reasonably well, and he joins in singing the final phrase as the song slows to a _diminuendo_ and finishes. Carlos nods, satisfied, and gestures to them to continue the scene with the dialogue. As Miss Jenn bursts back through the door, a torrent of apologies running from her lips, Seb uses the distraction to hastily grab his script from his backpack and join the others onstage, his role as pianist done – for a little while, anyway.

Despite having assumed he was finished, Seb spends the rest of the rehearsal dashing back and forth between the stage and the piano, as and when Miss Jenn decides she’s not happy with the scene and insists on running the whole sequence of scenes with the songs. “To get into their feelings,” she’s been saying. By the time everyone troops out at five o’clock, Seb is exhausted, and if he hears the phrase _trust the process_ one more time, he’s going to tell Miss Jenn just what she can do with her ‘process’.

Carlos waits around as Seb gathers his script, score, and various other effects and shoves them unceremoniously into his backpack. “So that was a bit of a fiasco,” he says with a laugh, and Seb gives a non-committal hum. He’s not quite forgiven Carlos for his attitude earlier, and perhaps Carlos senses this, because he frowns and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Seb says shortly, but the clipped response gives him away, and Carlos catches his hand and looks him in the eyes. He sighs, and decides to be honest. “I was a little annoyed at the way you made me feel stupid earlier, especially since the others definitely noticed.”

“Oh,” Carlos says, his face falling. “Seb, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not just today, either,” Seb admits. “It’s been happening kind of often. Not what happened today, specifically.”

“Then what?” Carlos asks, and Seb hesitates. “Please tell me what I’m doing,” he says earnestly, “because I can’t fix it if I don’t know.”

“I know you get stressed,” Seb says, “but, I don’t know, I feel like you take it out on me more than is fair.” Carlos looks stricken, and takes Seb’s hand.

“I had no idea,” he says gently. “I – I’m really sorry I made you feel that way.”

“It’s okay,” Seb says, smiling slightly.

“It isn’t really,” Carlos admits. “I’ll try and do better.”

“Thanks.” Seb smiles properly this time. “You’re forgiven. And I’ll try and be less passive-aggressive when you’re annoying.”

Carlos grins. “Wasn’t going to mention it.”

Seb lets out a low laugh and squeezes Carlos’ hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before Miss Jenn comes back and starts asking awkward questions.”

“Good point,” Carlos says with a grimace, before raising an eyebrow. They wander out of the rehearsal room and Carlos looks around the hallway. “Look at that,” he says innocently. “No one’s around.” Seb understands his meaning immediately, and gives him a soft smile.

“Then what are we standing around for?” he asks, matching Carlos’ tone and making him laugh as he leans in towards him. As their lips meet, it briefly crosses Seb’s mind that even if kissing Carlos is addictive, he’s in no rush to give him up.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! If so, please let me know what you think in the comments, or I can be found on Tumblr (@tea-for-one-please)!


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